Presents a guide to the newest version of Microsoft System Center, providing instructions and tips on asset management, security reporting, and data protection within managed environments for data centers and cloud environments.

Get up to date quickly with clear, expert coverage of SCCM 2016 Mastering System Center Configuration Manager provides comprehensive coverage of Microsoft's powerful network software deployment tool, with a practical hands-on approach. Written by Santos Martinez, Peter Daalmans, and Brett Bennett, this guide walks you through SCCM 2016 with in-depth explanations anchored in real-world applications to get you up to speed quickly. Whether you're planning a new installation or migrating from a previous version of Configuration Manager, this book provides clear instruction and expert insight to get the job done right. Fully aligned with the latest release, the discussion covers the newest tools and features with examples that illustrate utility in a variety of contexts. System Center Configuration Manager (formerly SMS) is one of Microsoft's flagship products; the 2016 release has been updated with better Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016 compatibility, improved tools for managing non-Microsoft mobile devices in the cloud, and more. This book provides start-to-finish coverage and expert guidance on everything you need to get your system up to date. Deploy software and operating systems Automate processes and customize configurations Monitor performance and troubleshoot issues Manage security in the cloud and on Virtual Machines SCCM 2016 improves your ability to handle the bring-your-own-device influx in managing mobile, streamlining the latest hiccup right into the everyday workflow. Mastering System Center Configuration Manager provides the practical coverage you need to get up and running seamlessly.

Using System Center 2012 Orchestrator, you can capture and document processes across your entire IT organization, establishing the automation you need to deliver advanced cloud services and self-adjusting computing resources. Authored by five leading System Center experts, this comprehensive reference and technical guide brings together all the knowledge you’ll need to architect, install, implement, integrate, and maximize the value of your own Orchestrator solutions. The authors introduce current best practices based on large-scale enterprise implementations they’ve personally led or participated in. This up-to-date guide shows how to apply Orchestrator’s major improvements to implement IT process automation in any environment, including private clouds. You’ll start with context: what Orchestrator does, how it has evolved, how it works, and essential architecture and design techniques. Next, the authors help you make crucial up-front decisions about activities, runbooks, security, and administration. Finally, you’ll find expert guidance for integrating Orchestrator with the rest of System Center and with Windows Azure cloud services—including advanced automated workflows that encompass both data center and cloud. Detailed information on how to… • Understand System Center 2012 Orchestrator’s capabilities, evolution, architecture, and design, including SP1 improvements and R2 • Successfully install System Center 2012 Orchestrator and migrate smoothly from Opalis Integration Server 6.3 • Take full advantage of Orchestrator’s advanced new runbook automation capabilities • Configure activities associated with runbook control, systems, scheduling, monitoring, files, email, notification, and data handling • Design runbooks for fault tolerance and optimal performance • Enforce strong security using roles, permissions, and auditing • Deliver integration capabilities for Operations Manager, Service Manager, Configuration Manager, Virtual Machine Manager, and Data Protection Manager • Automate end-to-end data center/ cloud workflows with integration packs and PowerShell • Create your own integration packs with Orchestrator Integration Toolkit (OIT.SDK) • Support Orchestrator 2012, troubleshoot problems, and discover the best web and third-party resources

Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager’s SQL Server database contains valuable information about your users, computers, hardware, operating systems, applications, compliance status, and much more. Microsoft has provided excellent tools for extracting this information in meaningful ways, including SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) and SQL Server Data Tools Business Intelligence (SSDT-BI). System Center Configuration Manager Reporting Unleashed shows you how to make the most of these tools. World-renowned System Center reporting guru Garth Jones and his expert coauthors guide you through all facets of custom reporting with System Center. You’ll walk through installing and configuring SSRS, using SQL views to find the data you need, writing SQL queries, creating basic and advanced reports, and using role-based administration to securely deliver those reports to the correct individuals. Jones brings together reliable, comprehensive, and up-to-date System Center reporting techniques you’ll find in no other book or website. Using this guide, you can consistently retrieve the right information to solve immediate problems and quickly respond to management concerns. Detailed information on how to… • Install and configure SQL SSRS for optimal System Center reporting and easier troubleshooting • Understand the data stored in the ConfigMgr site database • Efficiently retrieve ConfigMgr data by writing SQL queries in SQL Server Management Studio • Learn best practices for developing and designing System Center reports • Create report templates, customize content with report parameters, and embed charts • Customize logos, color palettes, and other report elements for your own organization • Construct advanced drillthroughs to provide deeper understanding • Strengthen report security by integrating ConfigMgr role-based administration into SQL queries • Leverage reporting to measure KPIs and gain a better understanding of your environment • Tailor your reports to the needs of end-users or management • Foreword by Wally Mead, Principal Program Manager, Cireson The only book entirely dedicated to Configuration Manager reporting, this guide complements Meyler's System Center 2012 Configuration Manager Unleashed, offering far more in-depth coverage of reporting than the single chapter in that book. Most of the content in this new guide will be equally valuable in both System Center 2016 and 2012 environments.

'System Center Operations Manager 2012 Unleashed' joins Sams' market-leading series of books on Microsoft's System Center product suite: books that have achieved go-to status amongst IT implementers and administrators worldwide. The book provides coverage of planning, installation, and migration; configuration; and much more --

System Center Service Manager 2010 offers enterprises a complete, integrated platform for adopting and automating service management best practices, such as those found in ITIL and Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF). Now, there’s a comprehensive, independent reference and technical guide to this powerful product. A team of expert authors offers step-by-step coverage of related topics in every feature area, organized to help IT professionals quickly plan, design, implement, and use Service Manager 2010. After introducing the product and its relationship with the rest of Microsoft’s System Center suite, the authors present authoritative coverage of Service Manager’s capabilities for incident and problem resolution, change control, configuration management, and compliance. Readers will also find expert guidance for integrating Service Manager with related Microsoft technologies. This book is an indispensable resource for every IT professional planning, installing, deploying, and/or administering Service Manager, including ITIL, MOF, and other IT consultants; system administrators; and developers creating customized solutions. • Understand Service Manager’s architecture and components • Discover how Service Manager supports ITIL and MOF processes • Accurately scope and specify your implementation to reflect organizational needs • Plan to provide redundancy, ensure scalability, and support virtualization • Design, deploy, and maintain Service Manager with security in mind • Use Service Manager’s consoles and portals to provide the right resources to each user • Create complete service maps with Service Manager’s business services • Fully automate incident management and ticketing • Implement best processes for identifying and addressing root causes of problems • Systematically manage the life cycle of changes • Use Service Manager to strengthen governance, risk management, and compliance • Customize Service Manager’s data layer, workflows, and presentation layer • Use management packs to simplify service desk customization • Make the most of Service Manager’s reporting and dashboards

System Center Configuration Manager Current Branch provides a total systems management solution for a people-centric world. It can deploy applications to individuals using virtually any device or platform, centralizing and automating management across on-premise, service provider, and Microsoft Azure environments. In System Center Configuration Manager Current Branch Unleashed, a team of world-renowned System Center experts shows you how to make the most of this powerful toolset. The authors begin by introducing modern systems management and offering practical strategies for coherently managing today’s IT infrastructures. Drawing on their immense consulting experience, they offer expert guidance for ConfigMgr planning, architecture, and implementation. You’ll walk through efficiently performing a wide spectrum of ConfigMgr operations, from managing clients, updates, and compliance to reporting. Finally, you’ll find current best practices for administering ConfigMgr, from security to backups. Detailed information on how to: Successfully manage distributed, people-centric, cloud-focused IT environments Optimize ConfigMgr architecture, design, and deployment plans to reflect your environment Smoothly install ConfigMgr Current Branch and migrate from Configuration Manager 2012 Save time and improve efficiency by automating system management Use the console to centralize control over infrastructure, software, users, and devices Discover and manage clients running Windows, macOS, Linux, and UNIX Define, monitor, enforce, remediate, and report on all aspects of configuration compliance Deliver the right software to the right people with ConfigMgr applications and deployment types Reliably manage patches and updates, including Office 365 client updates Integrate Intune to manage on-premise and mobile devices through a single console Secure access to corporate resources from mobile devices Manage Microsoft’s enterprise antimalware platform with System Center Endpoint Protection Using this guide’s proven techniques and comprehensive reference information, you can maximize the value of ConfigMgr in your environment–no matter how complex it is or how quickly it’s changing.

Invaluable coverage on all aspects of System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager Completely updated for System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager, this comprehensive book provides intermediate and advanced coverage of all aspects of the product, including planning and installation, migrating from previous versions of Configuration Manager, deploying software and operating systems, security, monitoring and troubleshooting, and automating and customizing. Provides numerous real-world scenarios to show you how to use the tool in various contexts Explores planning and installation and migrating from SCCM 2007 Walks you through deploying software and operating systems, security, monitoring, and troubleshooting Demonstrates automating and customizing SCCM 2012 with scripts This essential book provides you with all the information you need to get savvy with System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager.

Completely revised for System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager. This is the ultimate source for the working IT Professional who wants to design and implement System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager in a midsize- or small-business environment. Enterprise administrators also will find a lot of inspiration, as many of the features and scenarios discussed fit all three environments. The book is packed with real-world scenarios taken from 17 years of experience with SMS and ConfigMgr projects. By following the book from A-Z, you will end up with a ConfigMgr environment that is based on best practices and production ready.

Troubleshoot all the aspects of your Configuration Manager installation, from basic easy checks to the advanced log files and serious issues About This Book Learn to troubleshoot Configuration Manager 2012 based versions of Microsoft System Center Understand the usability of tools and find resolutions to all the issues of Configuration Manager A step-by-step practical guide with the necessary screenshots and examples Who This Book Is For If you are new to Configuration Manager or have experience with it, and are interested in identifying, diagnosing and resolving the System Center Configuration Manager administration issues then this book is for you. What You Will Learn Fix your clients and install them correctly Understand how your Configuration Manager hierarchy works Extend your error information Troubleshoot Configuration Manager roles Know your options when faced with problems Prevent future problems occurring In Detail Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager is the most popular enterprise client management solution in the world with some of the best features available. Troubleshooting this product, however, is not always as simple as you might want, not least getting to know the hundreds of log files and understanding how the various components work. The book starts with discussing the most commonly used tools for troubleshooting the variety of problems that can be seen in Configuration Manager. It then moves to providing a high level view of the available log files, their locations, what they relate to and what they typically contain. Next, we will look at how we can fully utilize and extend all the available information from the console monitoring pane through to the status messages and down into error logging with some further reaches into WMI, SQL, registry and the file structure. You will then learn what the common error codes mean, how to make sense of the less common ones and what they actually mean with respect to Configuration Manager. Further to this, you will pick up widely acknowledged best practices both from a proactive stance when carrying out your daily administrative tasks and also from a reactive position when the green lights start to turn red right down to a complete failure situation. By the end of the book, you will be competent enough to identify and diagnose the root causes of System Center Configuration Manager administration issues and resolving them. Style and approach An easy to follow yet practical guide that will advise you on what tools and information you have available to troubleshoot with, if you can extend that information and what to look for solving the issues.

This is the ultimate source for the working IT Professional who wants to design and implement System Center 2012 Configuration Manager in a midsize- or small-business environment. Enterprise administrators also will find a lot inspiration by reading the book, as many of the features and scenarios discussed fit all three environments. The book is packed with real-world scenarios taken from 15 years of experience with SMS and ConfigMgr projects. By following the book from A-Z, you will end up with a ConfigMgr environment that is based on best practices and production ready.

An essential guide on the latest version of Microsoft's server management tool Microsoft's powerful Mastering System Center 2012 Operations Manager introduces many exciting new and enhanced feature sets that allow for large-scale management of mission-critical servers. This comprehensive guide provides invaluable coverage to help organizations monitor their environments across computers, network, and storage infrastructures while maintaining efficient and effective service levels across their applications. Provides intermediate and advanced coverage of all aspects of Systems Center 2012 Operations Manager, including designing, planning, deploying, managing, maintaining, and scripting Operations Manager Offers a hands-on approach by providing many real-world scenarios to show you how to use the tool in various contexts Anchors conceptual explanations in practical application Mastering System Center 2012 Operations Manager clearly shows you how this powerful server management tool can best be used to serve your organization's needs.
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